Scientists Are Creating a 3D Model of an 18th-Century ‘Vampire Witch’ Who Was Tortured to Death

 

In 2014, archaeologists uncovered a skeleton in Kamień Pomorski, Poland, with a brick wedged in its mouth and stakes driven through its legs. They believed the man was put to death in the 18th century because townspeople thought he was a vampire.

Now, genetic and forensic analysis has shown that the vampire burial site didn't contain a man at all: It was a 5-foot-6-inch, blue-eyed, blonde woman who was at least 65 years old when she died. Newsweek reports that scientists at the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland are now making a 3D computer model of the woman’s skull, which they plan to use to recreate what her face looked like.

We often think of Salem when it comes to witch trials, but they were common throughout Europe before the 19th century, and archaeologists have discovered “anti-vampiric” graves in Poland, Bulgaria, and Italy. Wondering if you might have qualified as a witch during the 17th-century period of Puritan paranoia? Find out here.